6 Essential Tips You Need for Setting Up a Fantastic Home Bar

Home bartending is a great way to enhance your reputation as a graceful party host and learn an exciting life skill. To be honest, it is fascinating to mix exotic drinks for yourself and your guests. Being a bartender is an art, and you can master this art with a little bit of practice and a home bar. 

Before you make the mistake of mixing whatever you can get your hands on, you need to learn the basics of setting up a home bar. You can start with getting your liquor from a store like Zipps liquor to experience the best quality of beer, wine, and spirits. Once you set up your home bar, you can host amazing parties and amuse your guests with your fabulous home bar. To help you further in your quest, here are six essential tips for setting up a fantastic home bar.

• Get a Bar Cart to Serve Liquor

A classy bar cart is one of the must-have pieces of furniture for your home bar. You can keep your favorite liquors, mixers, garnishes, and bar tools in one place with the help of a bar cart. 

Bar carts are an excellent purchase for someone who hosts frequent parties and whose guests won’t mind making their own drinks. If you plan to get an open bar cart, it is best to store your less frequently used bar item somewhere else so that your cart looks neat and classy.

• Stock Up on a Variety of Mixers

If you are someone who loves cocktails, you must stock up on your favorite mixers. Mixers play a vital role in the taste and texture of your drink. Popular mixers are soda water, fresh juice, preferably orange or grapefruit, tonic water, and cola.  

Pro bartenders also suggest stocking up more mixers like Campari and Vermouth to make popular cocktails like a Margarita, Martini, Manhattan, and Boulevardier. Pineapple juice, tomato juice, spruce, and cola are more mixers you can stock to make different cocktails.

• Don’t Forget the Essential Garnishes

Cocktails are incomplete without garnishes. Standard cocktails need lemons and limes for garnishing. You can use them in a variety of cocktails. If you want to have fresh garnishes like mint and basil in your cocktails, you can also grow them at home. Fresh garnishes improve the taste and texture of your cocktails. You can also grow other herbs like thyme and sage to use in your cocktails. Some other essential garnishes are:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Onion
• Horseradish
• Cocktail olives
• Organize the Necessary Bar Tools and Glassware

A home bar setup is incomplete without all the bar tools. As you start improving your bartending skills, you’ll need the essential bar tools to make all the drinks you want. A bar spoon, mixing glass, Hawthorne strainer and shaker tins are some of the necessary bar tools you’ll need while honing your bartending craft. Expert bartenders recommend getting the best quality bar tools to ensure that you avoid making any mistakes while preparing your drinks. 

Along with the tools, glassware is equally crucial for your home bar. It isn’t fun to sip your Martini in a beer mug. As a beginner home bartender, you can start small and eventually build your glassware collection. Some essential glassware types are a beer mug, Collins glass, cordial glass, champagne flute, brandy snifter, margarita glass, martini glass, old-fashioned glass, wine glass, pitcher and shot glass.

• Get the Best Foundation Spirits

Your whole home bar setup is pointless if you don’t have the essential liquors in your collection. The thumb rule of stocking your home bar is to have the alcohol that you enjoy. There’s no use stocking up all the spirits that you don’t like. That’s how you will develop your skills and your knack for bartending. 

Any pro bartender knows there is only a need for a few foundation spirits to make a wide range of cocktails. Some of the best essentials for your home bar are gin, white rum, tequila, bourbon whiskey, scotch whiskey and vodka. Your nearest Zipps liquor store will have all the top liquors you want. Remember to stock them, so you can plan a party whenever you want. 

• Good Quality Ice is a Must-Have

Whether you plan to make different cocktails or serve soft drinks, good-quality ice is a must-have for any home bar. Two-inch silicone block trays are great for making your ice. Remember to cover your ice or store it in ziplock bags if you don’t want your ice to catch the smell of other things in your freezer.  Another thing you could do to perfect your ice is to start making clear ice at home. Clear ice looks much more sophisticated, and the coloring of the drink passes through it so much better. 

These are the six essential tips for setting up your home bar. Once you familiarize yourself with these tips, you will be all geared up to set up a fantastic home bar for yourself.